12,841 Fastenal Company $FAST Shares Sold by Confluence Wealth Services Inc.

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. cut its stake in shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) by 22.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 44,510 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,841 shares during the quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $2,205,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of FAST. Evergreen Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Fastenal in the second quarter worth $26,000. Independence Bank of Kentucky purchased a new position in Fastenal in the third quarter worth $30,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Fastenal in the second quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Paladin Partners LLC bought a new position in Fastenal in the second quarter valued at $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FAST has been the topic of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Fastenal from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Fastenal from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Argus raised their price objective on Fastenal from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. DA Davidson set a $51.00 target price on Fastenal and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Fastenal from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.46.

Fastenal Stock Up 1.2%

NASDAQ FAST opened at $55.49 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 3.93 and a quick ratio of 2.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.66 billion, a PE ratio of 44.75, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.66. Fastenal Company has a 1 year low of $38.97 and a 1 year high of $55.62. The business’s 50-day moving average is $50.99 and its 200 day moving average is $47.59.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.44 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 35.13% and a net margin of 15.62%. Fastenal’s revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.29 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Fastenal Company will post 1.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 28th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 28th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 83.87%.

Fastenal Company Profile

Fastenal Company is a distributor of industrial and construction supplies, serving businesses that need products to maintain facilities, support production and complete building projects. Its offerings include fasteners such as screws, nuts and bolts, as well as safety supplies, tools and other maintenance, repair and operations products. In addition to product distribution, Fastenal provides services designed to help customers manage supplies and purchasing. These include inventory management, on-site support and industrial vending solutions that make frequently used items available at customer facilities.